


The North Park Girls x Sally Face

by riversritual



Series: River’s Quiet Little Mountain Town AU (South Park) [26]
Category: Sally Face (Video Games), South Park
Genre: AU, Demon, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Homophobic Language, Multi, Mystery, Up to chapter three, following events of Sally Face, past death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28694715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riversritual/pseuds/riversritual
Summary: *An AU for my OCs and canon South Park characters with the events of Sally Face*
Series: River’s Quiet Little Mountain Town AU (South Park) [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114889





	1. Chapter 1

“It was just like the last time. Only this time, it started in a hospital....”

I’m standing beside the bed, my arm in a cast.

There’s blood on the bed I can only barely see since the room is so dark, and the phone is ringing loudly.

I answer it. “.....hello?”

“It’s okay, Kylie, everything is going to be okay,” a voice that sounds like my mother replies.

“What’s going on?”

“Come and find me, Kylie.”

The line goes dead.

The door is locked, there might be a key but I can’t see anything, I do manage to find the light switch and turn it on.

I manage to find the key and get out.

The door behind me turns into a brick wall, and three doors are now in front of me.

I go through the first one, marked ‘D’. I’d been through this before.

Then another one, marked ‘O’.

And a third, marked ‘G’.

I’m outside. It’s raining, there’s a group of adults standing over something.

I walk past them over to this dog lying under a big tree.

“Who’s a good doggy?” I say. “Who’s a good boy?”

The dog had these freaky yellow eyes.

“I buried him alive, kid. You tell me,” it said to me.

I didn’t know how to respond.

“Go see for yourself,” the dog tells me, before vanishing.

The crowd is gone when I go back over, and I can see the gravestone: ‘Ike Broflovski’, my younger brother, and there’s a hole leading down to a tunnel.

I climb down.

I end up at another door, it requires a code. I recall the numbers I had been seeing and type them into the keypad: ‘5-3-6-4’.

The door opened, and I got batteries unlocked with it.

Then, I’m in a ruined apartment.

I find my mom, she’s just....standing there, slightly bent over.

“Mom?” I said.

“You couldn’t have done anything. It’s not your fault, sweetie,” she tells me.

And she vanishes too.

I walk on, and there’s a bed.

The sheets pulled over a small bundle.

“.....Ike? Are you.....?”

The last thing I see is the mangled body.

........

“And that’s when I woke up,” I finished.

The therapist, Dr Enon, nods. “Hmm, yes, it’s an interesting dream. I think we should come back to that dream later but for now can you tell me more about the body?”

“Which one?” I asked.

“The second one, the one from the apartment....”

“Okay.....”

Part of me didn’t want to, but I was in therapy for a reason.

“Well, Mom and I had just moved in. My brother had been living there with his best friend for a few days already. 

“And I had a weird feeling about the place right away....”

I had no idea how right I was going to be.

..........

All the boxes and furniture had been taken upstairs, so there we stood in our new living room.

“This will be our new beginning,” Mom told me, “we can finally leave what happened in South Park behind us now. Why don’t you go explore the building? I’m sure you’d love to see your friends again.”

She went off to her room, and I made my way to mine.

I really couldn’t be bothered unpacking the boxes yet.

Our cat Gizmo had already made himself comfy on the mattress.

I could get the bed sorted later, if I didn’t see my friends soon I’d freak.

It’s only been a few days difference between them moving and us moving, but I still miss them to death.

I find my Gear Boy and take it with me when I leave the room, and then the apartment.

In the hallway, I see something up ahead.

A police officer standing in front of 403, the door had been bashed in and police tape was over the doorway.

I don’t bother wasting my time and use the elevator to go up to the fifth floor.

It’s a wreck, to say the least. It needs renovated and for your safety you’re meant to exit immediately.

And obviously I’m not doing that yet.

504 is unlocked so I step inside.

It’s dark, but I’d seen that coming.

“Hello?” I called out as I walked further into the room.

I was shocked to find someone there; a man rocking back and forth on top of pages of newspapers.

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone lived up here.”

He didn’t respond, just kept rocking.

“Sir? Are you okay?”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” he told me.

I wanted to leave then, it was freaking me out. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to get to know my new neighbours and-“

“A dark place,” he goes on, “this building, horrible things happen.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again.

There was a knocking sound from the bathroom that distracted me, and when I looked back he was gone.

It’s a one bedroom place, but the bedroom door is boarded up.

The bathroom door is also locked.

I decide to leave, it’s too freaky.

The other rooms are all locked, but there’s a hole in the wall.

I’m a dumbass for deciding to look through it.

A white eye looks back at me, and I quickly walk away.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that....”

I go back into the elevator and hit the button for the third floor.

The end of the hallway is blocked by a Wet Floor sign.

No one home in 302, but I find Stacy’s mother mopping the floor.

“Ms Marsh?”

She gets a bit of a fright but recovers fast.

“Sorry, you just startled me a little. It’s good to see you again, Kylie, Stacy’s been looking forward to it. I thought you weren’t coming until next week?”

“We decided to push ahead, we couldn’t stay in town any longer.”

She understood. “I hear ya. I started working here to keep an eye on you lot, take a bit of the pressure off the other parents. I know you’re not much trouble, sweetie, it’s the others.”

I knew full well what she meant. “What’s going on in 403?”

She sighed sadly. “I’m sorry your first day here involves such tragedy. It’s Mrs Sanderson, honey, that’s why.”

It wasn’t much of an answer, but I decided to change the subject.

“Where do you and Stacy live?” I asked.

“Down in the basement, she’ll be wanting to see you. Here, take my spare key card to go down.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

I don’t go down to the basement just yet, I go down to the second floor.

No one was home in 202, but in 201 I swore I heard a saw and a goat before I knocked and it all went silent.

I assumed I was hearing things and no one was home.

No one seemed to be home except for 204, who invited me in when I explained I was introducing myself to the neighbours as the newest one.

“Hi, my name is Kylie. I just moved in today with my mom,” I said.

“Well, I’m Charley. Don’t mess with my stuff and we’ll be okay. I’m a collector, you see, I collect many things,” he replied, “these things are like my family, so if you mess with my collections you’re messing with my family. Got it?”

I said that I did.

He had shelves of little figures, a lot of them were ponies. I thought I could see blood on one of them, but Charley spoke.

“Bask in the glory of my complete set of Glitter ponies. A great accomplishment it is to have this full set. You can look all you want but don’t even think about touching them.”

I made the mistake of asking, “What’s a Glitter Pony?”

He looked on in disbelief. “My god, child, have you never seen “My Glitter Ponies: Rainbow Spectacular?” It’s only the greatest television show ever produced!”

“Umm....I guess I missed that one, I’ll have to look out for it,” I said.

We talked for a few more minutes before I decided to leave.

I took the elevator to the first floor.

101 had a nasty wench of a lady.

102, no one home.

103 had what looked like a mail slot with the name Addison over it, where two eyes peeked out at me.

“Hello, young miss, new resident of Addison Apartments room 402. How may I be of service?” a male voice asked.

“How do you know who I am?” I asked.

“I know all that goes on within these walls, miss. You’ll do good to remember that.”

“Why is there a mail slot here?”

“I’m quite particular of my privacy is all.”

I understood.

I let him be.

No one in 104, I kept going on.

And that’s when I saw him.

Sergeant Harrison Yates.

Used to be in South Park’s police department before he quit, but I didn’t know he moved to this police force.

“What the fuck, Harrison?” I can’t resist asking.

“Good to see you again, Kylie,” he replied.

How do we know each other? A story for another day.

But we’re....friends, more or less.

I blackmail him into doing good and ignoring when my friends and I do illegal shit.

“We’re investigating a murder in this building, but I don’t think any of your friends did it since there was still a body to be found,” Harrison went on.

“Thanks for that,” I rolled my eyes, “do they actually live in this building?”

“Yep, I saw them all go down to the basement though. You should find them there, and if you find anything to help us solve this case come talk to me.”

“Okay, will do.”

I meant it, he could be okay when he wasn’t arresting innocent people.

I take the elevator down to the basement, and there’s a stack of shelves covering a door.

In the lost and found I saw a Gear Boy game so I took it.

It looked in pretty bad shape and the label was ripped off, it didn’t work in the Gear Boy but it looked like there was....some kind of game.

I went past the laundry machine and the vending machine to 1B.

And thats when I could hear it: the chatter of my friends.

Some yelling, Erica must have been pissing off Kendra and Stacy.

(God I missed Kendra the most.)

I took a look around the apartment first, but when I stepped into the darkness of the kitchen I saw this....thing, with red eyes and dark all over, it vanished soon after.

“What the hell was that?” I wondered.

Maybe Stacy would know, I thought.

I went over to the bedroom door and knocked. “Stace?”

“Kylie!? Is that you!?”

“Yep!”

“Get in here!”

I took that invite.

Stacy had already got all her shit unpacked, of course. She’s goth and dresses in black, but doesn’t smoke because she hates the smell.

Erica’s just annoying, we have a kind of frenemy thing going on.

Then there’s Kendra, who I’ve been crushing on for forever.

I still haven’t been able to say anything about it.

But everyone says she likes me back anyway.

“Ugh, I thought I still had a week before I had to be in your presence again,” Erica rolled her eyes, but her smile said she was glad I was there.

“Great to see you too,” I said in a sarcastic tone, but she knew I was just as happy.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were arriving early?” Kendra asked.

I shrugged. “To surprise you?”

“.....fair, but these last few days have been hell! Especially today, with Mrs Sanderson being knocked off by-“

Erica got interrupted by Stacy kicking her in the leg.

“Wait, you know who did it?” I asked.

“I do,” Stacy sighed, “I offered to help with her plumbing since Mom was busy. And I was about to leave the bathroom when the door got bashed open, and I saw the whole thing: the guy cut her across the throat, grabbed something and left. I waited until I thought it was okay and told Mom what happened.”

“Charley did it, by the way,” Erica jumped in.

Stacy kicked her again. “Shut up! Someone might hear you!”

“No one hears when you play your shitty music!” Erica snapped back.

I turned to Kendra. “Just like old times.”

She laughed.

“Who lives in 201?” I asked.

“Mrs Packerton, she works at the school, why?” Kendra asked me as the two continued to fight.

“I heard weird noises from there.”

That’s what made them stop.

“What kind of noises?” Stacy said.

“Like....a saw, and a goat. And when I knocked on the door it all went quiet.”

“Oh yeah, I hear those noises too,” Erica nodded.

“Well, does anyone know what it is?” I said.

“Nope,” Kendra shook her head, “but maybe now that you’re back we can find out, after we get Charley arrested.”

“I thought I saw blood on one of his ponies,” I explained, “if we can tie it to Mrs Sanderson we should nab it.”

“Okay, but how do we get into Sanderson’s place?” Erica asked.

“Because I blackmail the chief of police,” I answered.

“Fine, but take this,” Stacy handed me one of her old walkie-talkies, “and try not to run into trouble on your first day.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary considering what I’m doing?”

“.....just go.”

I went back upstairs. “Harrison I need in to Sanderson’s apartment.”

He looked at me suspiciously. “Why?”

“I think I know who did it.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?”

“This is a more fun option.”

“.....Wait upstairs in your apartment, give me a few minutes.”

“Thanks.”

I loved having the power, I’ll admit.

I checked in on Mom when I made it back, she’d managed to build her bed before falling asleep.

At least she could sleep, she didn’t have the nightmares I did. Probably because I refused to take sleeping pills like she did sometimes.

I found a quarter on the floor and took it with me.

I got back to my own room and waited.

Eventually, I heard movement and the elevator.

Stacy radioed in. “Whatever you did worked, they’re all going. Get in there and keep in touch.”

403 was no longer guarded and I got in.

Dark, only light coming from windows, blood splattered on the walls and covering the floor with the outline of the body.

The coffee table was broken, and near the kitchen I recognised the Glitter Ponies.

I radioed in. “There’s Glitter Ponies here, but one is definitely missing. There’s a clearing in the blood.”

Stacy got back to me. “Okay, come back down to the basement. We’ve got an idea.”

I did so.

“Sanderson and Charley were both addicted to those toys,” Erica explained, “and yesterday she was just talking to her husband about this super rare one she found and Charley totally heard.”

“He probably offed her out of jealousy, he’s crazy enough,” Stacy shrugged, “so we need to get the toy down to Harrison then.”

“How do we do that?” I asked.

“He’s obsessed with Addison Tea, this drink Mr Addison in 103 makes. If you mix it with something it should do the trick,” Kendra suggested.

“You better not be suggesting poison.”

“.....well I’m not anymore.”

“Here, just take the bag,” Stacy rolled her eyes, and passed me a plastic bag, “so you don’t get your fingerprints on it.”

“I have to do this, seriously?”

“He thinks I stole snacks from him,” Erica explained.

“I once stole from his collection,” Kendra added.

“I burned that same stolen thing from his collection,” Stacy jumped in.

I decided to leave it for another time.

“Do any of you think this place is haunted?” I asked instead.

“Yep,” Erica said instantly.

“Nope,” Stacy huffed.

“Did you see something?” The brunette went on.

“I....think so?”

“I fucking told you!” She laughed victoriously.

“Oh my fucking god....” Stacy grumbled.

“Weird noises, shit moving by itself, that’s not normal, Stacy!”

“......we’re talking about this later, I’m going now,” I said.

“Wait! Did you see the girl?” Erica asked me.

I had to hear this. “No, what girl?”

“Up on 5, she was there and then just vanished! So I locked the bathroom door, but if you want to see for yourself I can give you the key in exchange for chocolate,” she shrugged.

“You’re such a greedy bitch,” Stacy grumbled.

“And you’re a gothic horror,” Erica snapped back.

Kendra just rolled her eyes and laughed.

I got chocolate from the vending machine and only then did she give me the key.

“Just be careful, okay? And find something to spike Charley’s tea,” Kendra told me.

I promised I would.

I took the elevator up to 5, I unlocked that bathroom.

I could hear crying. “Is anyone in here?” I called out.

The crying continued, nothing happened.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you, I’m a friend,” I called.

Then, she appeared, rising up from the ground with a scream.

A little girl.

“You are?” she asked.

I’d lived in South Park, I’d seen a lot of weird shit to get used to this.

It was freaky, but fine.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied, “my name is Kylie.”

“You’re not scared of me, Kylie?”

“No, of course not.” And I meant it.

“Okay, that’s good. What’s wrong with your arm?”

She was referring to the cast.

“I had an accident,” I replied. “Why were you crying before?”

“Everyone always runs away from me when I talk to them, I get so lonely up here all alone.”

“It must be lonely being by yourself.”

“Well, I’m not really all alone, there are-“

A door opened from outside, and when I looked back she was gone.

I found an old laxative on the floor, and knew what I had to do.

My Gear Boy started freaking out where the little girl had been standing, and when I pulled it out the game I had put in was suddenly working.

It was called ‘House Of The Wretched’.

And I hit start.

A story of a skeleton having dug out of their grave and picking up the pieces of their memory from when they were alive.

It was her. She was killed in this very bathroom, her mother killed in her bed, her father hung himself.

That meant it all happened here, before this building was built?

She appeared again. “Where did you get that game?”

“I found it downstairs in the lost and found box, it’s a strange game.”

“It reminded me of something....”

“What is it?”

“I....I can’t. I’m sorry, please leave me alone.”

She vanished again.

“Damn.”

I found Erica standing in the living room.

“What are you doing up here?” I asked.

“Wondering that exact same thing,” she replied.

“I thought this room freaks you out?”

“Well you were away for so long, I panicked.”

“Aaaw, that’s sweet,” I teased.

She rolled her eyes and passed me a cup of tea. “And to give you the Addison Tea for Charley, because I’m so awesome.”

This time I rolled my eyes.

She went back to the basement and I went to Charley’s.

He could smell the tea before I could offer, and drank the whole thing in seconds.

And right after, had to go to the bathroom.

He shouted through the door that I wasn’t to touch anything.

But obviously I didn’t listen, I used Stacy’s bag to grab the bloody pony and practically hightailed it out of there.

I radioed Stacy. “I’m taking the toy down to Harrison.”

“Where the fuck were you? You took forever!” Stacy whined.

I rolled my eyes. “Got distracted, I’ll tell you later.”

And I find Harrison back where he was.

“Here, you’re welcome. Found it in Charley’s room, missing from Sanderson’s, her blood is on it,” I explained.

“God damn it, one of these days you’re not walking all over me,” Yates sighed.

We both knew it wasn’t true.

Charley got arrested minutes later and protested, saying he was innocent.

“No one was around, so I looked into the back window of the van....”

Mrs Sanderson’s body.

........

“Such a horrific sight for anyone to see, let alone a young child as you were,” Dr Enon says. “Fifteen years old and already you had witnessed two gruesome scenes, it must have been very traumatic for you.”

I nod. “It was.”

“Well, unfortunately, our time is up for today. I’ll see you same time next week?”

“Absolutely.”


	2. The Wretched

“Kylie? Ike? Kylie where are you?” I hear my mother call.

I go back to her with my younger brother.

“Don’t wander so far, sweeties,” Mom says.

“Doggy,” Ike replies.

“He wants to see the dog,” I explain.

“Why don’t you wait until your father and Kyle get here? They should be here very soon.”

“Doggy!” Ike is persistent.

“I don’t think he’ll stop,” I laugh.

Mom sighs. “Okay, okay. But don’t go too far, I’ll get my purse.”

“We’ll wait over by the trees,” I promise.

We wait, and the next thing I know....

My arm is killing me, covered and dripping with blood. I step into the back of a blood covered ambulance, and the scene changes.

I’m with Mrs Sanderson, an alive Mrs Sanderson.

“Thank you so much for coming to help out with the toilet.”

“No problem, Mrs Sanderson. I’ll have it unclogged in no time,” I reply.

“Wonderful! Herman would have done it himself but unfortunately his fingers have turned into banana peels and the street corner is just so dangerous.”

I nod, “I understand.”

“Thank you so much, Stacy, the bathroom is just over there.”

I go to the bathroom, and the toilet is honestly absolutely disgusting.

I go to pick up the plumber and suddenly the toilet comes alive and I’m thrown into the sewer.

There isn’t any water, it’s all just green slime.

I find a pony, it looks like the same pony Charley stole.

It looks horrible, dehydrated and sick.

“You there,” it says to me, “please. Help me.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“The water. It’s stopped. So thirsty.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to fix this.”

“Hurry.”

I had passed a ladder, and I go back and climb it.

I climb some more ladders and flip a switch, and two more switches until I can hear water pouring.

When I come back down, the pony is overinflated and dead, but I can now get across.

I get back to the bathroom, and the toilet is fixed.

Just as I open the bathroom door, someone storms in.

I look through a small crack in the door and Mrs Sanderson screams, blood splatters everywhere. 

There’s a thud, before the door finally shuts.

And there’s only silence.

I finally step out.

Mrs Sanderson lies dead on the floor, one of her toy ponies is missing and the coffee table is destroyed from where the killer slammed her head down on it.

I leave her apartment, and there’s bloody footprints which lead to darkness, I follow them.

The footprints fade and I’m walking through darkness, until I find Charley at the end of it.

“Kylie, come closer. I have something to show you.”

I step closer, close enough to see a zip running down his body.

“I know you touched my pony.....I thought we were friends, Kylie.”

And finally, the zip rips open to reveal a dark skull and glowing red eyes.

I wake up muffling a scream, in my bed at Addison Apartments.

........

“Damn, you’re still having those nightmares?” Stacy asked me.

“I haven’t had them this bad since right after Ike died, I really think it’s this building. There’s just something off about it,” I replied.

“Okay, I know you’re so insistent about it but I really don’t think this place is haunted.”

I knew she’d believe me if she’d seen what I’d seen.

“.....but....”

“But what?” I pushed.

“Well, I’ve been wanting to show you this thing for a while now. I think it’s time.”

Whatever she wanted to show me was outside through the back door at the end of her room.

We got our coats and headed on out.

It had snowed, so there was snow all along the path we walked.

“Wow. How long have you been hiding this?” I asked.

“Too long.”

A treehouse. Stacy had a treehouse.

We both climbed up into it.

“This is so cool. How did you get this?” I asked.

“My dad built it when he was still around, he spent a lot of time up here. We planned to move for years before finally doing it,” Stacy explained.

I knew about her dad, that one day he just vanished without reason, but most of the time she didn’t want to talk about it.

Fair enough, I don’t want to talk about my arm or Ike most of the time anyway.

“I mean, you know my parents loved each other,” she went on, “he didn’t leave but one day he was just gone. My mom wants to believe he left, but I know he wouldn’t ever do that, he loved us.”

I kind of knew what it was like, my dad left my family but unlike hers, he actually let us know.

“I believe you,” I assured her, “so what do you think happened?”

Stacy hesitated. “Look, you know I’m not superstitious or that shit, and I scoff when you and Erica insist the apartments are haunted.....but....I think it’s something else.”

“Like what?” I asked.

She sighed. “I haven’t told anyone this, but you’re here and I trust you more than myself right now. The day before you arrived, I was taking the elevator down from the fifth floor because I was trying to see if any of those locks could be picked.”

I knew not to ask, and she continued.

“I’m in the elevator going back down to the basement, and I see the demon.”

I thought back to the red-eyed thing of my nightmares.

“He reached out and touched me, I got this cold chill down my spine, I was scared shitless. And this....image....flashed in my mind, of my dad. I thought I was losing it, he was gone as quickly as he came, just as the doors opened.”

“So do you think the demon has something to do with your dad’s disappearance?” I asked.

“I know it sounds crazy, but he had friends up here. He was here a lot over the years and it was a day he had plans to come here again that he vanished,” Stacy explained.

“I believe you,” I assured her, “what did this demon look like?”

“It was like a moving shadow, all black and misty with the form of a man. With these deep red eyes that pierced inside of you.”

It hit me like a truck.

“Holy shit.”

“What?”

“I’ve seen your demon!”

She stands there for a second. “No fucking way. When?”

“I swear, on my first day here. I was looking around your apartment and I saw it in the kitchen, in the dark, and it was gone almost as soon as I saw it, it was exactly as you described.”

Stacy was still unsure. “I don’t know.”

“What if we stop it?” I said.

“What now?”

“Stop the demon, catch it somehow. Look around for clues and anything that can help us, try to find out more about the ghosts.”

She shrugged. “Why the hell not? I’ve got nothing to lose, it’ll be like old times. You can look around the stuff here and take anything you think will help.”

I took her up on that offer.

The first thing I found was an old photo of Stacy and her parents, and the Game Boy started acting weird.

“That’s strange,” I muttered.

“What is it?” Stacy asked.

“I found this Game Boy cartridge in the lost and found a while ago, I think it reacts to supernatural activity.”

“That was one of the last photos we took together, right after that he disappeared.”

I kept looking.

There was a wooden chest with all kinds of things, but what really stuck out was this metal puzzle box.

“What’s in this box?” I asked Stacy.

“No idea, it belonged to my dad and I never figured it out,” she replied. “Take it with you, if you manage to open it let me know.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else, so we headed back to the basement.

“I’m gonna look around and see what else I can find, okay?” I said.

“Cool. I’m gonna stay here and take care of Mom, is that okay?” Stacy asked.

“Yes, Stace, it’s fine. I’ll come back down if I have anything, okay?”

“Okay, thanks.”

I checked in on her mom myself before I left, she was having a rough time with being sick but still itching to get back to work.

When I left, I found Erica sitting beside the empty vending machine.

“Fatass,” I greeted.

“Redheaded bitch,” she replied.

Our usual greetings.

“What are you doing down here?”

“Waiting for the snack guy to come fill the machine.”

“Great way to spend your Saturday.”

“Better than whatever you’re doing.”

I rolled my eyes and left, suppressing a grin as she laughed.

I went all the way up to 5, to 504.

And I had the idea to call Stacy up, if Megan were to come out today she would see that the apartments are haunted.

I radioed her. “Stacy, you there?”

“I’m here. What’s up?”

“Can you come up to 504?”

“Sure, Mom just took her medicine so she’ll be asleep for a while. I’ll be right up.”

She was soon in the room with me. “So, what is it you wanted to show me?”

“Come on, she’s in the bathroom,” I said.

“She?”

“Just come on.”

We go into the bathroom.

“Damn, these bathrooms have seen better days,” Stacy commented.

I shushed her.

“Just wait a minute. Megan? Are you here?” I called out. “Hello? I want you to meet my friend Stacy.”

Nothing.

“I don’t think there’s anything in here,” Stacy said.

“She might be afraid, she can be pretty shy. Although, I haven’t been able to get her to come out lately,” I explained.

“So you come up to this nasty bathroom to talk to a dead girl? How often do you come up here?”

“I’ve been able to talk to her a few times but like I said, she hasn’t been around much lately,” I shrugged.

She didn’t say anything.

“I’m not crazy, Stace! I’m gonna prove this to you.”

“Hey, I never said you were crazy. As weird as this is, you’re my best friend and if you believe me I believe you. I’m on your side.”

“I really thought we’d be able to talk to her today, I just had this feeling.”

“Maybe you should go talk to your brother,” she suggested. “Didn’t he tell you he’s interested in this apartment being haunted too?”

“Yeah, I’ll go talk to him. Sorry for dragging you up here.”

“It’s no worries, honestly. Good luck with your ghost hunting.”

Before I went to see Kyle, I stopped in on the third floor where the McCormicks lived.

Kenny answered the door. “Hey, Kylie.”

“Hey. Where’s Kendra?” I asked.

“She needed help with her studying and went to see Kyle and Stan.”

“Okay.....do you ever see any ghosts around here?”

He thought about it for a hot minute. “I see the ghosts of my past.”

I laughed. “No actual ghosts?”

“Nope, Kyle asked me the same thing and he got the same answer.”

“I doubt that, you probably flirted with him.”

“Caught me.”

“Right, I’ll leave you to it.”

“See ya.”

He was pretty okay.

I stopped on the fourth floor, I tried not to look at the apartment but I did anyway.

The door had never been fixed, just boarded over. If I had a crowbar I was sure I could get them off.

Gizmo made me feel better when I saw him, lounging on the couch watching TV.

I checked in with Mom quickly, she was using her computer and chasing a deadline for work. She was fine.

I finally went down to 2.

Those weird sounds, I heard them again, this time just a saw. It still freaked me out.

Charley’s old place was on this floor, I didn’t want to think about that.

I knocked on the door to where Kyle stayed with his best friend and Stacy’s aunt.

It was Kendra who answered. “Hey, you, how’s it going?”

“Investigating ghost business, is Kyle around?” I asked.

“Yep, I’ll be off bothering Erica if you need me,” she kissed me on the cheek before departing.

I glared at my brother when he laughed. “Oh shut up, you stay here because you’re in love with your best friend.”

Then it was my turn to laugh.

“Are you really here about ghost stuff?” Kyle asked me.

I nodded. “Did Erica ever tell you about 5?”

“The ghost girl, yep. Why did she have that bathroom key in the first place?”

I shrugged. “No idea. This building is haunted and I’m trying to find out more about the ghosts here.”

“Okay, fair enough. You need my help?”

“You have no idea.”

I told him everything, every little detail that was necessary.

“I should be able to help,” Kyle said at last, “but can we investigate something too?”

I was up for it.

“I think there’s a ghost in the bathroom here.”

Not the weirdest thing that I’ve heard.

“Really?” I said instead.

“Yeah, it’s weird your ghost and mine both appear in bathrooms.”

“Mine died in her bathroom,” I said, “a place of death thing?”

He considered it. “Most likely. Wanna check it out?

“Duh.”

“By the way, Erica said something about a Gear Boy cartridge?”

“Oh yeah, I found it in the basement. It picks up supernatural activity, it’s how I found my ghost in the first place.”

“That’s freaky.”

“Tell me about it.”

And then we’re in the bathroom.

“What do you do to get your ghost out?” Kyle asked.

“Usually I just start talking to her and sometimes she comes out, sometimes she doesn’t. I haven’t really seen her in a while,” I said.

“Okay. Can you do that here so we can see if this one comes out?”

I tried calling upon the spirit, but no response anywhere.

The Gear Boy was quiet too.

“I can modify your Gear Boy to detect supernatural hotspots,” Kyle suggested.

Normally I would be against anyone who even dared to attempt such a thing.

But I trusted him.

“Alright, sounds good to me.”

Some parts were needed to complete it, and Stacy’s walkie-talkie was one of the parts.

I had an idea for the next part but I had to ask her first.

Before that, I went to the first floor to check on the oldest resident of the building.

“It’s Kylie, from upstairs.”

She asked what it is I wanted and I said just to talk, then she said the door was open.

Miss Rosenburg sat upon her rocking chair and smiled. “Oh hello, Kylie. What brings a young girl like yourself to see this old woman?”

“Hi, Miss Rosenburg. I just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright?” I said.

She was fine with it, but spoke a lot about time before remembering herself.

I asked her how long she’d lived in the building.

“Long, indeed. Though it’s hard to say exactly. My old mind can barely hold onto memories of yesterday anymore let alone the distant past. I’m afraid my days are nearing an end. Soon I will return to dust and my consciousness will merge with the great and mysterious nothing.”

I really didn’t know what to think of this answer, I’ll be honest.

She apologised and asked me to repeat the question, and I did.

“You know, I do remember when the Addisons moved here from overseas to construct this building. Actually, this land belonged to my family but I decided to sell to the Addisons, since I was the only one remaining.

“I thought the company would be nice to have again. Someone to share the anguish of life with. I was young and naive for a new beginning..... What a foolish girl I was...”

“You regret selling the land?” I asked.

She replies with, “A life as old as mine is filled with regret, my dear. Though it all eventually becomes meaningless.”

I asked my next question: “About the Addisons, what happened to the rest of the family?”

“They’re gone,” she told me. “Time takes us all, sweetie. Poor little Terrence is the last of his family. Oh, I suppose he’s not so little anymore but that’s how I see him.

“As a young boy with a twinkle in his eye and a head filled with dreams.... Now look at him, he never leaves that godforsaken room.”

“Yeah, why does he stay locked away in there?” I asked.

“He went a little kooky after his family died, if you ask me. The boy was so wound up he was afraid of his own shadow. He worshipped his father and gave up his dream of running his own tea house in order to run his father’s apartments.

“Slowly but surely he confined himself in the safety of his room until he stopped coming out altogether.”

I felt really bad.

“Have you ever seen any ghosts in the building?” I asked next.

She seemed to avoid the subject.

I let it go and left, and went to check in on Addison.

He peeked out through his mail slot as usual. “Good evening, Kylie. It’s so nice to see you! I hope you’re doing well today.”

“Hi, Mr Addison. I’m good, how are you?” I said.

“Wonderful, thank you for asking! So, how may I be of service to you, miss?”

I asked if he had seen any ghosts around.

“Oh heavens to Betsy! Please don’t tell me my building is haunted. The last thing I need right now are some promiscuous phantoms frightening my tenants. I’m having a hard enough time keeping everyone happy while Lisa is sick.”

“No it’s okay Mr Addison, I’m sorry. It’s a paper for school,” I lied.

I felt even worse.

He said he couldn’t handle any more stress at the moment.

I couldn’t keep talking to him, so I left and went down to the basement.

Erica was still waiting, we did our usual greetings.

I asked where Kendra was.

She replied, “Got bored with getting no reaction.”

I went in to see Stacy.

The antenna on her police scanner would most likely work.

I asked if I could use it.

“Yeah, go ahead, that scanner’s broken by now anyways.”

I went back up to Kyle and asked if it would work.

“It’s perfect, thanks for the help. I’ll get it done in a few minutes.”

It took a lot of tinkering, but finally the Super Gear Boy was complete.

Kyle suggested a test run in the bathroom, and I agreed.

The Super Gear Boy successfully detected and revealed a ghost.

A man, crying, on the toilet.

“Holy shit,” we both said.

“What’s the matter?” I asked the ghost.

“I never thought he’d kill them. I.... it’s all my fault,” he wailed.

“Who?”

“Stacy and her daughter. Oh god! What a fool I was to fall for a married woman.”

“It’s never a crime to follow your heart,” I replied.

I didn’t know what else to say.

“You must be a romantic like I....was.... It’s kind of you to say but I know better than that.”

I asked why he hasn’t left this place, he tells me they can never leave.

“What do you mean? You can’t pass on?”

He doesn’t respond, I push on.

“What’s keeping you here? Have you seen a demon with red eyes? Can you tell us anything-“

“No, no, NO, NO!

“He’s here!

“I have to go, I’m sorry.”

And he was gone.

It was very brief, but I could have sworn I saw that demon again in the mirror for a second.

I asked Kyle if he was okay.

“I’m fine, glad to know I was right and the device works. I’m gonna do some research, why don’t you take the device for a spin round the apartment?”

I thought it was a good idea.

But first, I went back down to the basement to show Stacy the new device.

“Kyle made that? It’s pretty awesome- is that my walkie-talkie?”

“Yeah....sorry, he had to use it, I’ll get us new ones.”

“No it’s okay, you need it to find out more about these ghosts.”

I went out to the treehouse to investigate the photo properly.

The Super Gear Boy detected something.

It wasn’t a fully formed ghost, it was more like a phantom.

Just a floating head.

“Kylie?” it said.

“Who are you? Are you Jim Marsh?” I asked.

Stacy’s dad did take her mom’s last name, just saying.

I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me, though.

I said I didn’t understand.

He spoke some more, but I still didn’t quite get it.

“What do you mean? What....are you?”

Some more I didn’t really catch.

And then he was gone.

I looked over Stacy’s apartment before I left, I didn’t tell her anything.

The Gear Boy lit up in the kitchen, but it was a weird looking symbol that appeared instead.

It freaked me out, so I left. If Erica saw me looking freaked out she said nothing.

I went up to the fifth floor to try with Megan again, but still nothing.

All I found on that floor was more freaky symbols.

Then I went to Charley’s old place, god knows why, and found another of the freaky symbols.

I decided to check Miss Rosenburg, and to my surprise there was something.

But it was her.

She asked me what my horrific device was.

I said it was hard to explain.

“You really shouldn’t tamper with things that you don’t understand,” she told me.

I asked if she was okay.

“Is anything okay? I haven’t been in a long time.”

“I meant-“

“Yes I know, Kylie. I’m not going to drop dead on you, not today at least....”

I had a feeling she would at some point, but I let her be.

I had a few words with Terrence, not to clear my conscience but to let him know he’s not alone with how he feels.

“.....thank you, Kylie....you’re....a good person....a true friend....”

I went back up to 2, and found a new game on the Gear Boy called ‘In Seeking Providence’.

A few parts of the game were unlocked but not all of them, so I left it for the time being.

Then I went to see Kyle.

He couldn’t find any reports on past murders except for the one involving Charley.

But he did find a missing person report for Megan, the same Megan I knew.

And I recognised her necklace.

I found it where I knew I’d seen it, the lost and found box.

Stacy and I went back upstairs with the necklace this time.

This time, I detected something.

And finally Megan appeared again.

“Hi, Kylie!” she smiled.

“Holy shit!” Stacy exclaimed.

“That’s not a nice word.”

I had to resist a laugh. “You’ll have to forgive her, she’s never seen a ghost before.”

Megan knew the ghost in the bathroom Kyle and I saw as her mommy’s friend who was always nice to her, and that her daddy didn’t like him so much but she never knew why.

I’d managed to piece it all together by then but I didn’t say anything.

She said she missed her mommy because she doesn’t talk anymore, and her daddy is mean and scary but he wasn’t always like that.

I asked her what happened.

She said they had a fight and he was sad, but then his sadness turned to anger.

Her last days are a blur now, but she mentioned her daddy going fishing with Mr Marsh.”

“Wait, Jim Marsh?” Stacy asked.

I had a really sickening feeling as Megan confirmed it.

“That’s my dad.”

Megan didn’t know anything else, just that they were friends.

When Stacy didn’t say anything else, I asked Megan about the necklace.

She confirmed it was hers, her mommy gave it to her to protect her.

I asked where her mommy is.

In her bedroom, Megan said, but she never speaks anymore.

And suddenly she panicked as she said her daddy was coming and he didn’t like her talking to people.

She left pretty fast.

“Shit,” Stacy said.

I nodded. “They never seem to stick around long enough.”

She didn’t say anything to that, so I changed the subject.

“We’re going to need to get the boards off that door, do you have any tools?”

“Kenny has my crowbar, but every time I ask for it he claims he doesn’t. Can you try, see if you have better luck?”

I didn’t mind, I let her go down to check on her mom.

Kendra answered the door this time. “Hello, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Stacy says there’s a crowbar here and we need to break into a place upstairs,” I explained.

She nodded. “Fair enough. Truth is, we use it to hold up this shelf. The college kids next door to us, they’re nice and all but throw these really loud parties that knocks the shelf right off. They seem to like you, so....for me?”

How could I resist?

I was able to help the college kids plan a low-key but still enjoyable party for the night and to turn the music down.

“You’re an angel,” Kendra handed me what I needed, “wanna come inside for a bit?”

I said yes, and she took me by the hand to lead me in.

“Don’t worry, it’s just us. Tell me what’s been happening.”

“Lately? I found this,” I showed the puzzle box, “and I can’t find what it needs to open.”

She took a good proper look at it. “I might be able to help.”

Kendra picked something up from the floor, “I found this when Kenny brought the board in, it must have fell off. I thought it was important for something so I held onto it but looks like this is what you need.

And it was. “You’re the greatest.”

She kissed me on the cheek again and let me go.

I went up to 4, to Mrs Sanderson’s old apartment. The boards were still up, and I took them down.

Maybe something important was inside, that’s what I thought.

The blood in the carpet was either cleaned or dried in, but the Gear Boy detected something.

Her ghost.

“Mrs Sanderson?”

“Who are you?”

Of course she would want to know, we had never met.

“My name is Kylie, I moved in after you....died.”

“Oh. I can’t remember much of it, just hazy pieces, like waking from a dream,” she said. “Do you know what happened to my Herman?”

Her poor husband who was left behind, I felt so bad for him, he was devastated.

“He couldn’t bare to come back to this room, movers came and took everything out for him,” I explained. “You must have meant the world to him.”

“I miss him so much, this cold isolation is torture. I wish we had never moved to this place, then we wouldn’t have met THEM and Charley wouldn’t have-“

She freezes. “Oh no, it’s coming back.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs Sanderson. Go, hide.”

“Goodbye, Kylie.”

I go to 5, I break into the bedroom.

There’s a ghostly presence in an old mattress.

I see Megan’s mom, tangled up in the springs.

I asked if she was okay, she didn’t say anything.

And left.

I checked the Gear Boy, the game had most chapters unlocked apart from 7.

I played it.

There was a lot of things to unpack from the past.

A cult, for example, that summoned a demon that possessed Charley and killed Mrs Sanderson, who was working against the cult.

It seemed that Rosenburg, Greg and Megan’s mom Stacy were all against the cult and tried to stop it but failed.

A cult member Luke, Megan’s dad, got possessed and killed his family.

And my best friend’s father.

How the fuck was I going to tell her?

I examined the puzzle box she let me take, and managed to unlock it to find a computer chip.

I held off on looking through the rest of the room to go see Kyle again about this.

He wanted to test it, and said while he was cautious his curiosity overpowered it.

The computer screen looked all jumbled in code, but I didn’t see it too long before there was a piercing noise and everything went white.

I was alone.

“You have found the cognition key,” a voice said.

“What is....where am I?” I asked.

“Some things will appear broken. Do not be afraid. Your mind cannot handle it all at once.”

I was brought back after that.

I didn’t understand.

And I didn’t want to, I went up to 5.

The bedroom had a dark space which had a whole other room behind it.

I crawled through.

The room got dark right at the end, where I saw a noose hanging from the ceiling, and the Gear Boy was reacting.

“He-Hello?” I called.

The last chapter in the game unlocked.

I played it.

And he appeared before me, still hanging there.

“Luke? Can you hear me?”

Nothing.

“Luke?”

And all at once, he’d jumped down and the demon came roaring out.

I screamed and covered my face as it roared.

I thought it was the end, until I heard it.

And suddenly it was over, someone dragged me back out to safety.

My best friend.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked.

“Kyle gave me an invention that could blast and destroy an evil spirit. So I got it and came upstairs to make sure you were okay,” Stacy explained.

I sighed in relief. “Thank god you did.”

“So that red eyed demon had been around for decades? Yikes.”

“I know, this place has a dark past.”

Stacy sighed and nodded. “.....Kylie?”

“Yeah?”

“Did that thing....did it...?”

I knew what she wanted to know, I had to tell her.

“It looks like it, I’m so sorry.”

We hugged each other, we held on to each other and cried.

...........

“The demon was taken care of, we didn’t have any trouble with that since. But something still wasn’t right, that’s when we investigated something we thought was less serious,” I finished.

Dr Enon nodded. “Hmm. But the police couldn’t stay quiet forever?”

“The press want to interview me tomorrow,” I sighed.

“Good luck with that.”

“I’ll need it.”


	3. The Bologna Incident

When the press heard of this crazy story, they obviously wanted to get interviews with everyone involved.

And I had to be first.

But you won’t believe what they asked me first.

“The viewers are very interested in this one: is it true you’re scared of bologna?”

I was actually offended. “I’m not “afraid” of lunch meat, okay. I just....well....it’s a long story.”

“I think we have plenty of time,” the report shrugged.

“I’m fine with telling it, if you’re fine with hearing it.”

“Of course.”

“Okay then....”

.........

It started with a stick drawing.

“What if I were more than just a doodle?”

A living little stick figure that walks across the page and finds another stick figure with a triangle head.

“Hello? Are you okay?”

Garbled screaming.

The stick figure keeps walking and finds another one with a triangle head that wasn’t covered in darkness.

“What’s wrong with your friend?”

“He sought the truth and the truth destroyed his soul. Now, please, leave us alone. Your head will frighten the children.”

“Can you tell me where your friend ventured to find enlightenment?”

“He travelled to the Wise Prophet, beyond the Fields of Death. But a round head like you will never make it.”

A ladder takes the stick figure further down the page, to crying square head figures with only a neck and head.

A smaller one to the side asks, “Are you the platypus?”

The figure approaches one of the bigger ones. “Are you okay? What happened to your limbs?”

“Well, I never! How would you feel if I asked you what happened to your weirdly shaped head?”

“I didn’t mean to offend, I was-“

“Humph! Go bother someone else!”

There was another one further on. “Hello, miss.”

“Don’t pay any mind to my sister, she’s been cranky lately because of the sun.”

“It’s no problem.”

“Our ancestors were mauled by the Great Beast. Ever since, our people are drawn without limbs.”

“What sort of beast could do that?”

“We do not speak of such things. If you want to know more, you’ll need to seek out the Oracle beyond the Death Fields.”

The figure walks on to find some kind of scribbled one eyed monster. “Are you the Great Beast?”

“Well, fuck you too, friend. No, I’m sorry, don’t pay me any mind. My temper rises with the sun. The Great Beast hasn’t been seen for over 100 years.”

“Do you know where the Prophet is?”

“You mean the crazy old hag who lives beyond death? Just take that ladder down, it’s always a ladder down.”

The ladder down shows the Fields of Death, many dead stick figures taken out by a giant rubber.

And past the field is a strange paper object that when moved appears an old, non-stick figure.

“Are you....the Prophet?”

“I am called many names by the sticks.”

“Do you know about the Great Beast?”

“It crawled through the Great Hole, many years ago. It ravaged the sticks for decades, then was laid to rest by a magnificent explosion in the sky.”

“What is the Great Hole?”

“Eons ago, we created a Great Hole in the papery fabric of this world. A Hole that contains all the knowledge in the universe.”

“How do I get there?”

“What is the truth worth to you?”

“.....Everything.”

The Prophet vanishes, and the stick figure is somewhere new.

And finally, the Great Hole is found.

And destroys the figure’s soul.

...

“Excuse me, Miss Broflovski. Kylie, wake up!”

I jolted awake, and realised I was still in my math class.

“That doesn’t look like math to me,” Mrs Packerton said from her desk.

“Sorry, I must have dozed off. I already finished the test,” I replied.

I could feel Heidi Turner’s glare on me.

“I know, dear. You aced it as well, very good. Just try to stay awake for the remainder of class, okay?” 

“Sure, it won’t happen again.”

She turned her attention to Heidi. “And Miss Turner, eyes on your own paper.”

Heidi huffed but did as she was told.”

“Class is almost over, make sure everyone hands in their tests before leaving,” Mrs Packerton announces.

I met up with Kendra after it was over, but we got bother pretty quickly.

“Hey, freak!” Heidi yelled at me. “Nobody looks a goody-two-shoes!”

“No one likes a cliche bully,” I snapped back.

I’d been fighting with Erica basically my entire life, this bitch was nothing.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Kendra jumped in.

“Shut up, bitch! I wasn’t talking to you!” Heidi snapped.

I didn’t even have to look to know that Kendra rolled her eyes at that.

“You know, if you took that stick out of your ass maybe you’d actually enjoy yourself. Maybe even make a friend or two,” I said.

“Fuck off, I have more friends than you ever will!”

“You kiss your mother with that mouth? I’m sure she-“

And that’s when Heidi punched me.

“What the hell, asshole!?” Kendra yelled after her as she ran away.

“Leave her, her punches are lighter than Erica’s, I’m fine,” I said.

She was still worried about me. 

Stacy found us a second later. “Hey, what happened? Was it that bitch Heidi again, did she hurt you?”

I scoffed. “Hardly.”

“I’ll kill her.”

“No you won’t.”

“Kylie’s right,” Kendra agreed, “if we stir the pot it could make things worse.”

“Not if she’s dead!” Stacy argued.

“She’ll probably haunt the school and we’ll be stuck with that shithead for the next two years,” Kendra rolled her eyes.

“Ha! Says the group skeptic,” I scoffed.

“You know I love you, but the ghost stories are too much even for me.”

“So we’re really gonna let this Heidi thing go?” Stacy asked.

“It’s not worth it. Plus, think about it, who knows what her home life is like. She’s got a lot of pent up rage, there must be a reason,” I replied.

“I’m pretty sure she’s just angry they switched Bologna Sandwich Day to tomorrow,” Kendra said. “Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone love the crappiest lunch day so much, it’s like a prison meal. And she doesn’t even like pizza Friday, who doesn’t like pizza!? It’s inhuman.”

“Maybe she’s an alien,” Stacy suggested.

“Ha, that’s all we need,” I replied.

“.....Psst, Stace, I’ll help you kill Heidi when Kylie isn’t looking,” Kendra hissed.

“I heard that.”

The next day was Bologna Day.

I always thought it looked disgusting.

“Does this smell funny to you guys?” Kendra asked.

Erica didn’t care, she was already eating it.

Wendy was sitting next to her, she was the latest addition to our group. A nice girl, with an obvious crush on one certain frenemy of mine.

“I thought last week’s was a little off-putting but it seems to be worse this time,” Kyle said in response to Kendra.

“I heard it’s made from goat meat,” Stacy commented.

“Didn’t a bunch of kids call in sick the day after Bologna Day last week, too?” I asked.

“I swear to god, if you ruin lunch for me I will never forgive you, you selfish ginger,” Erica said to me.

“I’m not scared of you, even if you punch harder than Heidi,” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh yeah, and tell that bitch if she hurts you again I’ll break her legs,” she warned.

That’s Erica for you.

“Let’s take this conversation somewhere else. Wendy, do you want to stay here with Erica?” I asked.

She knew what I was doing, and smiled. “Yeah, but good luck.”

The rest of us stepped away from the table and into an isolated corner of the cafeteria.

“We need to find out if there’s anything wrong with the bologna. Maybe a batch of bad beef or it’s expired or something,” I said.

“Or bad goats, because I’m telling you this shit is funky. Doesn’t taste like no meat to me,” Stacy added.

“It’s most likely a mix of low cost meat components of beef, pork, chicken and maybe turkey,” Kyle said.

“That makes my stomach turn even more.”

“This is like the hot dog incident all over again,” Kendra commented.

“Ugh, I hope not,” Stacy groaned.

“Kylie’s probably onto something, I’ll take our sandwiches to the lab to look for bacteria and signs of expiration, but it might help to know what the exact ingredients are,” Kyle said.

“Okay, Kendra you go with him and Stacy come with me. We’ll come over to the lab if we get anything useful,” I decided.

It was agreed.

Stacy and I went to talk to cafeteria lady Kim, who served up the lunch in the first place.

We passed Wendy and Erica, clearly flirting.

And Heidi, now sporting a black eye.

(Erica did get up from the table at some point, so it explains a lot.)

Kim wasn’t of any help, so we had to think of something else.

“What if she’s poisoning the lunches?” Stacy suggested.

“I don’t think so, but we could look into it, see if you can get her file from the principal’s office and I’ll go check in with Kyle,” I said.

He hadn’t managed to find anything, and Kendra was off getting some things from the janitor’s closet.

I went off to find her, she was standing outside of the closet.

“I tried picking the lock and my hairpin got stuck, I need something in there to test the bologna.”

“I can try looking for something?”

“No pressure, Kylie, honestly. I mean it would help, but you keep doing what you’re doing.”

I made it out to the courtyard and found a tennis ball, I thought it could be useful for later so I took it.

I took a different door back in and found Stacy.

“Any luck?” I asked.

“The teachers are all in the lounge, I’m waiting for the right moment to sneak by.”

I had an idea.

Back in the courtyard was a window to the lounge, I threw the ball at the window hard enough to make a loud noise.

The teachers were distracted.

When I went back in, Stacy said she saw the file but didn’t get a good enough look.

She suggested taking it, but I said it would draw too much attention to ourselves.

I remembered Kendra’s Polaroid camera in her locker and took a minute to go get it.

We used paper clips to get our lockers open to make it easy, so the camera was easy to get.

Stacy took the camera and this time, she managed to get a photo.

I found out Kim used to do wildlife photography, and it gave me an idea.

Using the camera, I went back outside and caught a photo of a bird.

I took it back to Kim at the cafeteria.

“What’s this? A photograph?.....of birdie?”

“Yeah, it’s for you, a thank you for all the hard work you do,” I said.

“You’re a sweet girl, Kylie, thank you.”

I managed to get her to tell me the meat is bought off Mrs Packerton from her farm once a week.

“Here, I give you some extra meats for bringing Kim nice photograph.”

I was on my way back to the lab when I heard noises from the girl’s bathroom, I went inside and found a crumpled up note beside the trash.

“Can’t hurt to take a peek....”

‘I know we don’t really know each other and I know you have your opinions of me. I thought maybe if I told you how I feel things would be different, the truth is I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m crazy about you! I think you’re amazing.

‘But I know these feelings I have are wrong. It’s not the way a girl should feel about another girl. Shame swallows me whole just writing these words. My mother would kill me, but I can’t live in her shadow forever. I just’

The rest I couldn’t understand.

I could hear the noises in the very last stall, very clearly crying noises.

“Anyone in there?” I asked.

“No duh, fuckwad. Fuck off!”

“Heidi? Are you....crying?”

“Kylie? I- no! What the hell? Can’t a girl get some privacy?”

I didn’t know what to say for a second.

Then I just decided to ask something that had been bothering me for a while.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I asked.

“Because you and your dumb friends are a bunch of homos! It’s sick! It’s not right! God will never love you, why should I!?”

“You know it’s only Kyle who takes the gay label? The rest of us go between bi and pan.”

“Ugh!” I could sense the eye roll.

“Is your mother pushing these beliefs on you?” I asked.

“Just because my mother is a preacher doesn’t mean she owns me! I’m my own person!” she argued.

“Yeah, but....well, you seem so unhappy. Are you sure your mom isn’t putting too much pressure on you? I bet it’s tough being the daughter of such an intense woman.”

“You have no idea what it’s like.”

“.....I’m sorry, Heidi.”

She sighed. “Don’t feel sorry for me, Kylie. I don’t need your pity.” 

“We don’t have to be enemies, you know that, right?”

“......”

I went on. “I think under all of that anger, there’s a nice girl who’s afraid to be herself. If you ever need someone to talk to or if you need to get away from your mom for a while, you can hang out with me.”

“.....Why- why are you being so nice to me?”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person, Heidi.”

She didn’t say anything for a second.

“You know, I don’t really hate you....or your friends.”

“I didn’t really think so.”

“I- I guess- well, I’m sorry for being such an asshole, you didn’t deserve that.”

“That means a lot to me. It really does. Thank you. And what I said before, about being here for you if you ever decide you want a friend, I meant that.”

“Don’t push your luck,” she laughed quietly with a sniffle.

And I smiled.

“Okay, now scram so I can have my alone time. And, uh....”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing, just...don’t tell anyone about this, please?”

“I promise.”

And I let her be, and went back to the lab.

“Got more bologna,” I announced, “Kim said it’s made by Mrs Packerton from the building.”

“The same Packerton who has all those weird noises you kept telling us about?” Stacy asked.

“That’s the one.”

“There’s no way she makes her own lunch meats, from where?”

“A farm, apparently.”

Stacy scoffed. “I doubt that. Trust me, I would know, she never leaves her apartment except for her work here.”

“So what, we confront her?” Kendra asked.

“Do I look insane? She won’t tell us anything, we’ll need to check her apartment,” I replied.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Stacy actually looked excited, “I’m telling you, goats.”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “I have to mind the place before Kenny comes home but after that I’ll come join, okay?”

“That’s fine,” I assured her.

Kyle agreed to help with the security cameras, so no one would see us go in.

So the plan was formed.

But first, we’d look for suspicious things in her classroom.

Stacy and I went, she guarded the door.

Packerton’s desk had a mechanical lock that required a number combination.

I found the passcode, 3141, the only numbers to stand out above her chalkboard.

The drawer opened, with typical maths papers at first, until I found the secret compartment.

“I think she’s part of a cult,” I said.

“Yep, I think you’re right,” Stacy agreed.

A bible, some coins, crystals, a bird skull, weird symbols on little bits of paper, and also a strange metal device similar to Stacy’s dad’s puzzle box.

“There’s another one of these metal boxes, like the....”

It was happening again.

“Shit.”

Stacy already knew. “Is it happening again?”

“Yeah, I....”

And it all went white.

I couldn’t understand what was being said to me, but it was over as quickly as it started.

“Are you sure? You could just be dehydrated, and you didn’t eat anything at lunch either,” Stacy was saying.

“It’s done,” I said.

“What?”

“It’s already over, let’s go back.”

She didn’t argue.

We didn’t mention it, no point in causing worry over nothing.

“We found some sketchy things in her desk, how are the tests coming?” I said.

“No signs of harmful chemicals or bacteria, but I think we can all agree there’s something peculiar here,” Kyle stated.

“Whatever it is, don’t tell Erica. She’s had one of her lunches ruined already,” Kendra said.

After school, we all went our separate ways.

Kendra went up to her place, Kyle and Stacy had some things to sort first but the three of us all agreed to meet at Kyle’s when we were ready.

I went up to my own apartment to see if Mom was home, and while she wasn’t I found something under her bed.

A photo of Ike, a few weeks before that awful day.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get there on time....”

I always blamed myself for that day.

I put the photo back and quickly left, because if I stayed there any longer I was going to cry.

Instead, I went down to 3 to see if Erica was home.

Technically she was, but standing outside and looking shaken up.

“What’s up with you?” I asked.

“I keep hearing creepy noises,” she explained.

“Like, what kind of creepy noises?”

“You know! Like scratching and moaning and stuff!”

“Maybe it’s just mice or the building creaking, it’s an old building.”

She rolled her eyes. “Mice isn’t much better.”

“You wanna hang out with us?”

“No it’s okay, but thanks.”

I asked if there was anything I could do, she said chocolate would help.

I would go down to the vending machine after checking on Miss Rosenburg.

I just knew something was up, I never said it out loud, but I knew.

“Oh....hello, dear Kylie.”

“Are you okay? You sound tired.”

“Yes, yes, I’m quite fine, just a bit distracted by my thoughts. You know me.”

And I did.

We spoke about life and death, the way she spoke just added to my feeling of unease.

I used the Gear Boy, it found something.

She was the something, she was dead.

And she vanished.

“Goodbye, Rose.....I get the feeling you were ready, for whatever this is. I hope that wherever you are, you’re happy now...”

I went to the basement next and got chocolate for Erica.

“You’re the best frenemy I’m ever gonna get,” she said in praise. “By the way, give this to Stacy, it’s the game she let me borrow.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks again.”

I headed up to Kyle’s, where he was waiting with Stacy.

We were ready to go.

Stacy succeeded in picking the lock, and we were in.

“It stinks of old person in here,” she groaned.

“That painting is very unsettling,” I was referring to this large one on the wall of a farm.

“What if she really does just work on a farm?”

“I don’t know, we should investigate further. And that painting gives me a weird feeling, like a cold chill.”

“Yikes, me too.”

“Let’s look around.”

Stacy went off to the kitchen and I went the other way.

There were two bedrooms, both locked, one with a weird mechanism on it.

A clock hung on the wall between the two doors with the time stuck on 3:14 and going right back there when I moved them.

I had a dead end from where I was, so I went back to where Stacy was.

There was a little radio that seemed broken, and a big bag of diapers beside the couch.

“Do you think she wears these?” I asked.

“Probably, she’s like ancient,” Stacy replied.

She was in front of the fridge-freezer, and said the fridge part looked normal.

There was a big freezer too, which had frozen goods and batches of bologna, nothing looked out of place.

The smaller freezer had a padlock on it.

It took a few minutes, but Stacy cracked it.

And we opened it.

A severed goat head.

The four symbols I had found round the apartment when I was ghost hunting.

The goat has a tag that read 1047.

“I knew it!” Stacy exclaimed. “It IS goats, I fucking called that shit! Also, gross.”

“I feel like it can’t be that simple, let’s see if we can get into those bedrooms,” I said.

She agreed, and followed me to the second one.

“It’s a complicated lock, but I’ll try and crack it.”

I took the Gear Boy out and searched the apartment, it picked up the ghost of the murdered goat.

“Hey, little guy,” I said.

“Ba. Ba ba. Ba. Baba.”

And the ghost was gone again.

“What the hell was that?” Stacy asked.

“A ghost goat, I shouldn’t be surprised at this point but I am,” I replied.

I looked in the freezer again, at the tag that said 1047.

And I went to the little radio, it was somehow working now.

I tuned it to 104.7, it was just static.

It was starting to come together.

The clock’s hands could be moved, but to what?

I summoned the goat again, and listened carefully.

1\. 2. 1. 2.

12:12.

The clock hands were moved to that time, and I heard the lock of the first bedroom open.

“How the hell did you figure that out?” Stacy asked in sheer disbelief.

I shrugged.

We went into the first bedroom.

“There’s someone in here!”

And there was, but....

Tied down to a bed, hooked up to a ventilator.

“This is definitely where that rancid smell was coming from, this is getting crazy,” she muttered.

There was newspaper clippings on the wall about Mr Packerton’s death, but he had never died.

He was alive and held captive in a vegetative state.

Stacy nearly made me sick with her question about the diapers, but I held it in.

Kyle would have detected the bacteria, anyway.

If he couldn’t speak to us normally, I wondered if he could do it another way.

The Gear Boy.

His spirit came out of his body, pleading.

“Young child, please. Help me.”

“How can you be....? Are you dead?”

“I am in between, suffering for what seems like an eternity.”

“Did she do this to you?”

“We were in love once, or so I thought. Yes, this is her doing. Please, you must help me escape the endless agony.”

I knew he wouldn’t know anything, who knows how long he’d been kept in this room.

I asked how I could help.

“You must unplug this horrid machine.”

“But that would....”

“It will end my suffering. It will free me from this torment. Please child, I beg of you. You must hurry before she returns.”

I pulled it.

“You didn’t have a choice, Kylie. The poor guy was in so much pain, it’s what he wanted.”

“Yeah, I guess so, it’s just-“

The front door opened and closed.

“Oh shit, she’s back!”

“Quick, behind that dresser!”

We crouched down behind it.

“If we don’t make it out alive, I....I love you, Kylie.”

“I love you too, Stace, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“Same to you.”

The door to the room opened. 

We shut our eyes, Stacy shielded me with her arm as the footsteps approached.

And....

It was Kendra, trying to send us to early graves by giving us both heart attacks.

“What the fuck, Kendra!?” I nearly yelled, heaving a huge sigh of relief.

“Sorry. But what the hell is this place?” she asked.

“Packerton is a psycho, she killed a goat and put its head in her freezer. She kept her husband captive in here, we had to pull the plug,” Stacy explained.

Kendra sighed. “I knew there was something up with her. What about the other room?”

“We haven’t been in there yet,” I said.

“But I found this key on the floor, it might unlock it,” Stacy jumped in.

The key did unlock the door and the three of us went in.

It was even worse.

“What the actual fucking hell?” Stacy said.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

It was like a slaughter factory in there, and suddenly the noises I’d been hearing finally made sense.

Bloody knives and axes and saws, a fucking chopping machine in the corner, blood everywhere, another freezer covered in blood.

But the missing person posters. Of the kids who called in sick, and never came back in.

It was all starting to make sense, and I hated it.

The freezer had another combination lock on it, and took longer to figure it out, the blood splatters on the side were the clue.

And when we finally got it open....

Meat, skin, eyes, brains.

Stacy threw up. She threw up twice.

Kendra shivered. I could only stare.

I was trying really hard not to faint.

“We need to get the police, Kylie. You need to pull in Harrison, you know you do,” Kendra said to me.

She was right, I agreed.

“There’s no bones,” I pointed out, “it’s all just....meat.”

We had to leave the room, it was too much.

Stacy was going to throw up a third time and Kendra kept saying I looked pale.

I didn’t faint, though.

But there was still something I wanted to know: where the hell did she put the bones?

The diapers she used on her husband (gross) were everywhere, the goat head and....meat....were easily found, the bones should have been too.

That painting gave me more unease.

“Hang on,” I said, climbing up on the table.

“What are you doing?” Kendra asked.

“She’s moving the freaky painting,” Stacy replied.

She knows me too well.

And I found a trash chute.

“This building doesn’t have chutes or we would know that by now, right?” I checked in.

“Definitely doesn’t,” Stacy nodded.

I actually looked down it, I leaned right in.

“I don’t think it leads outside, there’s no light coming in. There’s blood all down it, wherever this goes is where the bones are, I’m guessing,” I said.

Kendra stepped closer. “Be careful.”

“I will be.”

Famous last words, because right after that I fell.

And screamed.

“KYLIE!” Stacy and Kendra screamed right after.

I tumbled for a while before everything went dark.

.........

“Do you know what your friends did?” the reporter asked.

“They filled me in later, on exactly what happened, if you would like to know,” I said.

“I would.”

.........

Kendra had the stupid idea to go after me. 

“No, no, no! I’m not losing you too, we don’t know where this leads, you could land on her and hurt her worse than she might already be hurt!” Stacy argued.

It was enough to talk her down before she ended up falling like I did.

“We have to get Kyle, and probably Erica,” Kendra sighed.

Stacy groaned. “I know, but you know what they’re gonna be like.”

There was a harsh knock on the door.

“What the hell did you two do!?” Erica yelled from the other side.

“Oh fuck me,” Stacy hissed before she yanked the door open.

“We heard Kylie scream, through the walls, travelling further down before fading entirely,” Kyle explained, not happy.

Ready to punch someone, by the looks of things.

“.....you’re not gonna like this,” Kendra said at last.

They had to know, about everything.

Erica was quite broken after that.

Kyle punched the wall. “Motherfucker!”

Stacy actually flinched.

He sighed. “We can deal with this Packerton shit later, okay? But I am not losing my sister, she does not deserve to be left down wherever she is to die alone.”

They knew he didn’t want to lose someone else.

“.....okay. The basement is meant to be the lowest point in the building, but Kylie once mentioned something like....I don’t know, hidden tunnels in the last building before this one?” Erica finally said.

“.....she did,” Stacy confirmed.

“Wait. Stacy you’ve been here long enough that you’d notice anything like that in our own apartment, right?” Kyle asked.

“Right.”

“But there’s another apartment in the basement.”

“.......what?” Kendra said at last.

“Oh yeah, behind that storage shelf,” Erica nodded.

“Let’s go then,” Kyle said.

No one wanted to argue.

In the elevator, Stacy asked: “We don’t need to tell our parents any of this, do we?”

Kyle agreed. “Better not, Mom’s had a hard enough time losing Ike. If she finds out she....might have lost Kylie, she’ll break.”

He wanted to believe I was alive (and of course I was) but there’s always that little doubt.

The shelf was moved and the door opened, with another key found at Packerton’s.

Nothing was found at first, until they checked one of the bedrooms.

A torn piece of carpet, roll it up and find a door.

“She must be down there,” Kendra said.

“Let’s go find her,” Erica replied.

It looked bad.

To say the least.

A whole level of tunnels and no idea where to start.

It was going to take them a while before they could find me.

Meanwhile, I finally woke up on top of a pile of bones.

It took me a few seconds to remember what happened.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” I groaned.

“Hello!?” I then yelled.

I don’t know.

Maybe someone could hear me.

“Kylie!?” Kendra’s voice yelled back.

And I was right.

“Are you okay!?” Stace then yelled.

“I’m okay! Just trapped in here!”

“We’re gonna find you, don’t worry!” Kyle yelled back.

And it took them a while, a lot of puzzle solving.

At least now I knew where these bones were.

Harrison was going to have field day with this one, I could tell.

Eventually, the big gate opened and they came through.

“You really know how to keep a girl waiting,” I said.

Kendra hugged me tightly. “Don’t you ever ever do that again, I swear to god.”

“Really? You leaned over a trash chute going god knows where?” Erica asked, but I knew she was relieved.

“You’re a dumbass. You caught a murderer for the second time, but you’re a dumbass,” Kyle added.

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just get out of here and get the cops in.”

Mrs Packerton, unfortunately, didn’t get arrested.

The police chased her but she crashed her car and died.

“Well....that’s a lot of missing person reports cleared now. It’s just unfortunate it ended this way, but thank you for your help again, Kylie,” Harrison told me.

“Please don’t tell my mother how involved I was, and you can take all the credit. Say it was an anonymous tip,” I shrugged.

“No, you get the credit this round, but I’ll leave it to you to figure out how to tell her.”

“Thanks.”

Stacy spoke to me later, in private.

“I’m not going to lose you, am I?” she asked. “I lost my dad to that demon, that cult, and I nearly lost you to what they built.”

“You’re never gonna lose me,” I promised.

I kept it.

I didn’t want to lose anyone else either.

.......

“It’s been quite a few weeks since then, how are things?”

I smiled. “Kendra and I....we’re going out, Erica’s doing the same thing with Wendy. Right now we’re trying to get through all this, it’s wild.”

“You’re all okay, even after what happened?”

“Not totally, I’ve been going to therapy to deal with all my issues, there’s a lot of things I need to face. It’s a mix of these past few weeks and with what happened in the past, but....it’s helping.”

“That is very good to hear, and thank you for your time.”

“Thank you.”

I left, meeting Harrison out front. “Next time you say you need a favour, specify, I’m never doing that again.”

He wasn’t sorry at all. “Thanks for coming by.”

“Whatever. I suppose I do owe you, for your work with the missing persons and letting me take all the credit.”

“You really fell down a trash chute?”

“Shut up, I’m out. I’ll be in touch if I have to do your job for you.”

I went home.

New home.

Addison Apartments.

Yes, it’s weird.

It’s housed two killers.

A demon.

A landlord we never see.

An old lady slowly approaching death.

A poor, suffering soul.

But, as crazy as it is....

It’s home to me.

It’s home.


End file.
